Concerning Surveillance

Most Americans understand that they're being watched. Who exactly is watching us, law enforcers or robots of law enforcers, is unclear. The consequences of this understanding are innumerable.

First, we're meant to assume that we're being recorded at all times. According to proven/accepted information, the government won't look at our data unless they have reason to, where "reason to" is up for interpretation. This panopticon will do two things: scare everyone into accepted submission and/or mentally break them down to the point that they give up trying to adhere to social norms 100% of the time. Currently, other than for "terrorists" there is very little punishment for minor offenses. Any sentencing would inherently admit more power and jurisdiction than we might accept as a society. It's better to ease into this sort of thing, start with the terrorists.

Secondly, there's the issue of privacy. It is not clear what exactly is private information anymore. Between the US government and its contractors, corporations like Google and Facebook, and any information I choose to share with friends and family, I am not sure there's any secret or piece of information that someone else doesn't know. A lot of people are up-in-arms about their loss of privacy. 

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what value privacy actually has. Privacy, secrecy, and lies are all made of the same stuff. At best, privacy protects us from unfair jurisdictions. No human is perfect and our privacy allows us to cover our mistakes, keep our law-breaking out-of-sight from potential enforcement. Without unfair regulations, what could privacy ever offer us that we actually need? The attack shouldn't be on the protection of our privacy, but on the abilities of those in power to punish.

What are the implications of recording the daily comings and goings of all American citizens?
There's the vanity that prevents anyone from being truly angry. There's a wealth of  information to be gleaned. Presently, knowledge of cycles, interests, desires, and habits can be capitalized on for advertising and other forms of mind control, certainly. Technology and our adaptation to it is slowly giving marketers this power. 

I am more interested in the implications of the future. Imagine in 50 years, the release of all this information, wherein anyone could witness the activities of a young person who later became a world changer or their parents or grandparents. The first inclination is that it would be embarrassing to have every minute of your illegal cell phone recording or webcam streaming information to be seen by anyone, because those are private moments. But, by the time any of that data is viewed by anyone else in the general public, they will no longer think there's anything taboo about it. We are entering into an age of full transparency.

This slow and unknowing transition from assumed privacy to the  realization of full transparency might actually be the most beneficial. Since we're unknowingly being watched, we still aren't afraid to be ourselves in our most private moments. We can hope that constant surveillance, instead of causing us to conform to societal standards, might actually help us shape into more confident individuals, unafraid to express who we really are at all times. The inevitable loss of privacy will cause an abrupt confrontation between anyone "in charge" i.e. law makers, media, bosses, and  what is actually a true representation of human kind. Rather than what we present behind masks to the world, we will have to get used to merging our private and public selves in a seamless whole, and not go crazy in the process.